The Opposite of Reason
by EmilyM
Summary: It's the usually weekend afternoon, complete with shopping, McDonalds, some slight food poisoning, and declarations of love. Romance.


Title: The Opposite of Reason Author: Emily M.  
E-mail: lyasandra515 at hotmail dot com Fandom: Stargate SG1 Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/ Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has been made. No copyright infringement is intended.  
Rating: PG-13 Pairing: Sam/Daniel Season: 7 Spoilers: Meridian, Full Circle, Fallen/Homecoming Other Warnings: none Challenge: Sam/Daniel Romance Length: 1,721 words Summary: It's the usually weekend afternoon, complete with shopping, McDonalds, some slight food poisoning, and declarations of love.  
Notes: My sg1flashfic, for dragonsinger. I hope you like it, Amy. )  
Notes2: Thanks to Wistful for the last minute beta and helping me make this story better. :)

The Opposite of Reason by Emily M.

"Wow." Sam dropped her shopping bags and plopped down into one of the food court chairs. She rested her head on the table. "That is a lot of clothing."

"You guys gave away all my old ones," Daniel said, sounding whiny for someone who was supposed to be so enlightened. As if they should have known... Though with his record, maybe they should have.

Sam lifted her head. "I'm sure they went to someone who needed them."

"Still... There was a six hundred dollar suit in that closet."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Clothes horse."

"Clothing makes the man." Daniel grinned.

Sam gestured to the pile of bags surrounding their table. "You've got three six hundred dollar suits now. And a lot more."

Daniel sighed. "I can't believe how much I let you talk me into spending."

"I can't believe you got back pay for the last year."

He grinned. "I never thought they'd go for that."

"You can be very persuasive," Sam said. She spoke from experience. "Now share the wealth and go buy me a diet Pepsi. And a hamburger."

Daniel headed for the McDonalds. Sam dropped her head against the table. She must have been more tired than she'd thought, because she zoned for a while, and when Daniel came back with a tray full of fast food it felt like only a few seconds had passed.

"Taking 'shop until you drop' literally?" Daniel said. He set her soda and her burger in front of her.

Sam grabbed her soda and drank before answering. "I feel like we've walked five miles. How big is this place anyway?"

"Big," Daniel answered, but she barely heard him. The table next to theirs was occupied by a woman with three screaming kids. Sam put a hand to her temple.

They didn't talk while they ate. Sam watched Daniel eye his McNuggets like an alien artifact, then carefully dip them in sauce and chew with a look of intense concentration. She wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or pretend not to know him.

Fortunately, by the time they had finished eating, the screaming kids were gone and so was her headache. Daniel was staring at the remains of his lunch.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"I'm just thinking. It's very strange."

"What is?"

He gestured to the food court. "All of this. I remember the important things--names, dates, people--but little things throw me off. Like McNuggetts." He held up the empty box. That explained the funny looks. "It feels familiar, but like it's just out of reach. It's like constant deja vu."

"It's only been a few weeks since you got your memory back. It'll get better."

"Yeah," Daniel said, in a voice that sounded less than convinced. "Sometimes I wonder if maybe..." He trailed off without finishing his sentence.

Sam leaned forward in her chair. "If maybe what?"

"Sometimes I'll say something and people will look at each other like I've made a mistake, but no one corrects me. Sometimes I wonder if maybe people aren't telling me something." Sam felt her jaw drop. "It's completely paranoid, I know," Daniel said quicky.

Sam sighed. "Not completely," she said. "We did wait a while to tell you about Abydos being destroyed." Daniel had been less than pleased about that.

He was looking less than pleased now too. He also looked slightly pale.

She frowned. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Fine," he said. "Or maybe not. I feel sick."

"Just now?"

"Yeah. You think it was the food?"

"Maybe. I feel fine. How sick?"

"Not too bad."

"You're sweating."

He just nodded.

"You want to go?"

"Maybe we should."

Sam picked up the bags, fending off Daniel's attempts to help. The walk back to the car seemed horribly long. She wanted to walk faster and get them out of there, but Daniel lagged behind and she had to slow down so he could keep up.

"Can I ask you something?" Daniel said.  
Sam turned to look at him. "I guess."

"When you first found me, I asked you if there had ever been something between us, and you said 'no.'" He paused, looking slightly embarrassed."But every time we're together I feel... like we're supposed to have something more."

Sam swallowed against the sudden tightness in her throat and stifled a laugh and Daniel's ridiculous sense of timing. "You want to talk about this now?"

Daniel shrugged. "If you don't want too..."

"It's not that I--you're--" She sighed, not sure what she wanted to say.

Daniel must have gotten it anyway, because all he said was, "Sure."

Daniel kept slowing down as they walked back to the care. When they finally got there, she opened the doors and he crawled into the back seat to lay down. She dropped all the bags in the trunk and got into the drivers seat.

"I'm going to take you back to the base," she said.

"No."

"Daniel, a half hour ago you were fine. Now you're not. That worries me."

"It's nothing. Please, I don't want to spend the night in the infirmary."

Sam drummed her fingers on the steering wheel. "Okay." She started the car. "We won't go back. Yet."

She turned around to see if he had acknowledged the "yet", but he was asleep.

"Daniel swears it's nothing."

Janet sounded annoyed. "Really? And when did he get his M.D.?"

"He says he's nauseous, but he hasn't been sick. He slept in the car and he's in my bed now."

"He's in your bed?" Janet said, a hint of amusement creeping into her voice.

"Alone," Sam said firmly.

Janet's voice switched back into doctor mode. "Alright, tell him I want to see him first thing in the morning. Earlier if he starts to feel worse or his temperature spikes."

"Okay. Thanks, Janet." Sam put the phone back in its cradle.

She walked back to the bedroom. Daniel was sprawled across her bed with the blankets tangled around the lower part of his body. The lights were off and the shades were drawn, but some of the light from the street lamps had crept in around the shades, and she could see that his eyes were open.

He lifted his head when she walked in. "Sam?"

"Janet wants to see you in the morning." He nodded. "How do you feel?"

"Better. Still a little nauseous. I'm sorry about this"  
"It's not your fault."

"Timing could have been better," he said.

She shrugged.

"Sam, that--that conversation that we were about to have--"

"You're sick. We can talk later."

"Later," he repeated quietly. "Sam, I--I still want to have that conversation."

"Me too," she said softly. Then, loud enough that he could hear, "Do you need anything?"

"Some water."

Sam walked into the kitchen. The water coming out of the tap was cold and she let it run over her hands for a while before filling a glass. When she walked back into the bedroom, Daniel looked like he was asleep again. "Daniel?" she asked softly.

He didn't move. She set the water on the night table and turned to leave, but stopped at the door. She turned around to watch him. He was spread out across her bed, wearing borrowed green sweat pants that were actually her father's--though she hadn't mentioned that when she gave them to him.

She loved him. It wasn't the first time she'd admitted it to herself, but it was the closest she'd come to telling him. She tried it, in a soft whisper, out loud. "By the way, I love you."

Someday, she'd say it so he could hear her.

She walked back out to the living room and settled down on the couch with a book.

"I love you too."

Someday had come sooner than she'd thought. She looked up and watched silently as he walked over and sat on the couch across from her.

"You weren't supposed to hear that," Sam said quietly, and if her voice shook a little, she trusted Daniel not to mention it.

"I know," he said with a small smile.

"I wasn't lying on the planet. There never was anything between us." She paused. "But I've wanted there to be for a while."

"How long?"

She hesitated before saying, "Since before Sha're died."

Daniel looked bothered by the information, but whether it was the idea that she'd had feelings for him for years or the mention of his late wife, Sam didn't know. "So now what?" he asked.

"Now... now you should be in bed," she said. "You're still sick."

He must have felt sick, because he didn't protest, but simply stood up and said, "I hate being nauseous. It reminds me of--"

He stopped himself before he finished the sentence, but Sam had a pretty good idea of what it reminded him of. He'd told her as he was dying--when she was sitting next to his bed hating herself for not being able to work up the courage to use the healing device--that the worst part of the radiation sickness was the nausea. He'd sounded so pained when he'd said it that she had gone against her better judgement and used the device. And only made things worse. She closed her eyes against the onslaught of the memory, then stood up and pulled him into a hug that seemed to throw him off balance at first. He recovered and pulled her close to him. "Just--just don't die on me again, okay?"

"I'll try my best."

"We'll talk," she said.

"Later." He let her go, and she immediately missed having his arms around her.

"Later," she agreed. "You can have my bed tonight. I'm going to sleep on the couch."

"Okay." He headed back toward the bedroom, then stopped. "You don't have to sleep on the couch."

There were a million reasons to say 'no'. "It's too soon for that."

"I don't think seven years is too soon."

"You're sick."

"Just what do you have in mind, Samantha Carter? I'm only talking about sleep."

She frowned.

Daniel grinned at her. "I can be very persuasive, you know."

"Yes, you can." Maybe it was time to stop thinking, just this once, and follow her heart. "I've always liked that about you," she said, and trailed him back to bed.

end 


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